Chapter 288: Imperial Guard Proclamation

A plate, a bowl.

The main motif is red flowers, supplemented by green leaves around the edges, with rich, vibrant colors and a strong contrast.

However, the body is relatively thick and heavy, the paste color is grayish, and the glaze color is yellowish.

Lv Chenglong said decisively: "Red and green colored porcelain from the Bayi Kiln in Changzhi, Shanxi, Jin Dynasty!"

Lin Sicheng really wanted to give a thumbs up: worthy of being an authoritative Expert.

The decorative features of the two pieces of porcelain are very obvious, so it is not strange to be able to identify them as red and green colored porcelain.

The molded body is rough, the paste is very heavy, the decoration is monotonous, and based on the soil seepage into the glaze and the oxidation marks on the surface, it is equally not difficult to infer that they were fired in the Jin Dynasty.

What is difficult is inferring the production area.

Red and green colored porcelain began at the Cizhou Kiln (Hebei) in the Northern Song Dynasty, later spread to Henan and Shanxi, and there were many kilns that fired it. Among them, the most famous are the Guantai Kiln and Pengcheng Kiln in Cizhou, followed by the Duandian Kiln in Henan.

Compared with these, the Bayi Kiln in Changzhi has very low visibility and is almost absent from historical records. Furthermore, although both belong to Shanxi, Changzhi Bayi is further from Yuncheng than Henan Duandian is from Yuncheng.

According to common sense, red and green colored porcelain appearing in Yuncheng nine times out of ten comes from Henan.

The reason why Director Lv is so certain is because of the paste quality and glaze color of the two: the Bayi Kiln paste is grayish-white, and the glaze color is peach red. The Duandian Kiln paste is grayish-yellow, and the glaze color is date red.

But the difference is extremely subtle, not to mention that these two pieces are so severely eroded by soil seepage; without enough keen eyes and sufficient experience, one simply cannot see the difference.

Without handling them, just by looking, Lv Chenglong shook his head: "The items are average!"

They are indeed average; even setting aside the fact that they were just unearthed, the historical influence of the Bayi Kiln is not even as great as the Huo Prefecture Kiln.

Lin Sicheng also shook his head along with him.

The fat boss was a bit dumbfounded: last time, even a few broken porcelain shards could sell for several thousand, but this time he brought two real items, and this person doesn't like them?

He pushed them forward again: "Boss Lin, take another look!"

Lin Sicheng dodged slightly and waved his hand: "Boss, we don't touch Raw Pit Goods!"

If you don't touch Raw Pit Goods, what kind of antiques are you playing with, and why are you visiting the Guwancheng?

Turning this thought over, the fat boss pulled off the bed sheet: "Boss Lin, take another look at what's on the stall?"

Lin Sicheng took two glances: the fat boss is like Wang Xiaoer celebrating the New Year—each year is worse than the last.

Last time he came, there were at least some ancient porcelain shards and a few pieces of Republic of China Blue and White Porcelain. This time, it's all made-to-look-old goods.

Lin Sicheng sighed: "Went to Henan to stock up?"

Eh?

The fat boss's heart skipped a beat: this person has some keen eyes?

Don't say, it really was stock from Henan.

He still wouldn't give up: regardless of whether the porcelain shards last time were based on keen eyes, this person is truly generous. Even without mentioning that, the person drives a Mercedes-Benz, so they definitely aren't short on money.

He casually covered the bed sheet back up and rolled his eyes: "There are real items, and they are absolutely old enough, but as for the price, it will definitely be a bit higher."

Lin Sicheng waved his hand: "Not looking, we'll talk next time!"

He and Ma Chenglong didn't come here thinking about browsing any street stalls; they were purely here to visit the world's largest Guan Sheng Temple.

It was just that they passed by this stall and mentioned it in passing.

Furthermore, with the fat boss's tendency to cheat, deceive, swindle, and lie, looking is just a waste of time.

The two stood up, and just as they lifted their feet, the fat boss reached out to block them: "Boss Lin, there really are good items, not far, just around the corner."

The fat boss gestured as he spoke: "And they are definitely 'cooked goods' (well-known items), and they are Kiln-transmutation Porcelain, with glaze colors just like seven-colored Gemstones!"

The two paused: seven-colored Kiln-transmutation Porcelain?

Jun Porcelain that has one color entering the kiln and ten thousand colors coming out?

Or Jian tea bowls with condensed fire essence and natural exotic colors?

If it were either of these two, they would be 100% Song Porcelain, and even the Forbidden City doesn't have many of them.

Lin Sicheng looked in the direction the fat boss was pointing: it was indeed not far, just a shop inside the Guwancheng.

"This shouldn't be your business, Boss, so how do you make money?"

The fat boss smiled: "I'm pulling the thread (acting as an intermediary); if the deal goes through, the shop owner will have to give me some commission for my hard work!"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "Director Lv, let's go take a look!"

"Fine!"

The fat boss beamed with joy and led the way for the two.

Passing through the aisle and turning a corner, the three entered a shop.

A plaque hung at the entrance: Yuan Gu Xuan. There were no customers in the shop, and a tall, thin middle-aged man was sitting in a chair fiddling with his phone.

Hearing the movement, he stood up subconsciously.

The fat boss winked and then introduced: "Boss Hu, these two are experts; I've brought them here for you to 'take their medicine'."

The shop owner was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "Please, come in, please!"

Lin Sicheng and Lv Chenglong sighed inwardly.

The fat boss was speaking in a dialect, fast and convoluted, assuming the two didn't understand. But let alone the local dialect of southern Shanxi, even if you brought a Chaozhou Hakka person over, Lin Sicheng could still communicate without barriers.

The so-called "taking medicine" in the Antique Trade refers to paying tuition fees; the fat man was reminding the shop owner: these two are novices, but they are incredibly rich, so feel free to "take the knife" to them.

The shop owner wanted to brew tea, but Lin Sicheng waved his hand and said straightforwardly: "No need to brew tea, and don't bother with the 'medicine'; if it's junk, pit-goods, modern fakes, new-looking items, misidentified pieces, or 'landmines', you'd better not bother taking them out!"

Lv Chenglong looked at Lin Sicheng quite strangely: these are all industry jargon, yet Lin Sicheng is quite clear on them.

The fat boss and the shop owner were both stunned, their expressions indescribably awkward.

You son of a bitch, didn't you say they were novices? They know the jargon better than I do?

The fat boss looked dejected and didn't dare to make another sound.

But since business had come to the door, one wouldn't know if it could be done until they tried.

The two muttered a few words, and the shop owner went into the back room. Shortly after, a sound came from inside, as if he were opening a safe.

Lin Sicheng and Lv Chenglong's spirits lifted: it seems there really are good things here?

A moment later, the shop owner carried out two boxes and placed them on the table with great care.

Opening the lids, the two took a glance, were stunned for a moment, and then sighed in unison.

This is no Kiln-transmutation Porcelain; it is clearly Color Painting porcelain. At most, it can be considered Overglaze: that is, the base is fired first, some with White Glaze, others with Monochrome Glaze, and then colors are painted on the glaze before a second firing in the kiln.

For example, these two pieces are painted on yellow-glazed and blue-glazed bases.

Regardless of how rich and bright the colors are, how strong the contrast is, or how peculiar the composition is, it absolutely has nothing to do with Kiln-transmutation Porcelain.

Looking at these three pieces before them, the craftsmanship is quite good, the vessel shapes are unique, and the glaze colors are bright, but they are not products from within the country.

First is the shape: for example, the first piece—if you call it a jar, the mouth is too small. If you call it a vase, the waist is too thick, and the rim is extremely shallow.

Second is the pattern: from the Han Dynasty to the Republic of China, China has never had such dazzling, miscellaneous, and meaningless porcelain patterns.

Third is the glaze craftsmanship; this is typical ultra-high-temperature porcelain. Neither firewood nor Coal can reach such high temperatures, unless it is an oil kiln or a gas kiln (natural gas).

Looking at the patina: late Qing Dynasty to Republic of China.

Suddenly, the two had a general idea in their hearts. Lv Chenglong examined it closely: "Japanese goods from the Meiji Restoration (1868—1912) period."

"Correct!" Lin Sicheng immediately echoed, "Kutani Ware!"

The fat boss and the shop owner were suddenly stunned, feeling both suspicious and shocked.

The items were collected by the shop owner from the countryside; as for their origin, he did not know. He just felt the items were good and quite old, likely from the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty.

After returning, he invited a few peers, all of whom said they couldn't be sure, and then he took them to the provincial capital to have two experts look at them.

They all said the craftsmanship was good and the pattern design was quite fancy, dating roughly to the late Qing Dynasty. They also said that looking at the glaze color and porcelain body, a Folk Kiln shouldn't be able to fire them, so it was nine times out of ten an Official Kiln.

But when asked to buy them, they wouldn't, because the mark on the bottom looked like this:

It had no border, no frame, was neither in regular script nor in seal script, but in running script?

Never mind Official Kiln; counting from the Song Dynasty when bottom marks first appeared to the Republic of China, even Folk Kilns never had this kind of mark.

But the items were indeed good, so the shop owner brought them back, thinking he would try his luck; maybe he could make a fortune.

He didn't make a fortune, but was called out in one sentence?

If one were to say they were wrong: the three items were still in the box, hadn't been taken out yet, and were all face down; how did they know the bottom mark contained the two characters "Kutani"?

The key is that there were more than just these three items collected together; there were three others, all covered in Japanese characters.

But if one were to say they were right: my perfectly good late Qing Official Kiln, in your mouths, has become some Japanese porcelain?

The shop owner was half-believing: "But the bottom mark is in Chinese characters?"

"Of course they are Chinese characters. If the bottom mark were in hiragana, these three pieces wouldn't even be worth a clay pot." Lin Sicheng smiled, "Keep an eye out; if an auction house is collecting, you can give it a try. These three pieces should still be worth three or four thousand."

The shop owner almost spat out a mouthful of old blood: he had spent six thousand just to acquire them.

"You don't want them?"

"We don't!"

The shop owner was taken aback: whether this young man was right or not was one thing, but his attitude clearly showed he had no interest at all.

If they had taken a liking to it, wouldn't they have taken the items out of the box to examine them by hand?

Sighing inwardly, he sealed the box lid: "There are a few more items; would the two of you like to take a look?"

"Are they also porcelain?"

"No, ancient books!" The owner paused, "All in Japanese characters!"

Japanese ancient books?

Subconsciously, Lin Sicheng remembered those two volumes of *Commentary on the Governance of the Great Learning* he encountered in Hangzhou.

Seeing him nod, the owner carried the box into the back room, and a short while later, brought out three more books.

Lin Sicheng took a look: Music and Dance scores?

Thread-bound woodblock prints, the pages slightly yellowed, with occasional oil stains. But they were printed well, the handwriting was clear, and the layout was neat; they should be from the early Showa period (before 1945).

Written on the cover page in Chinese characters were: *Crane and Turtle*, *Bridge Benkei*, *Yoshino Celestial*, *Great Buddha Offering*, *Earth Spider*.

These are all traditional Japanese Kabuki, originating from folk legends of the Heian Period (794) to the Edo Period (1600). *Crane and Turtle* and *Great Buddha Offering* are must-perform Kabuki for royal celebrations.

The content is recorded quite thoroughly, and there is a stamp printed on the page. But it is somewhat blurry and not clearly visible. Furthermore, they are just Showa-period prints, which are all over the streets in Japan.

Lin Sicheng flipped through them casually, set them aside, and picked up the second book.

This one had no characters on the cover, looked older, and the paper quality was also more aged.

Opening the cover, Lin Sicheng was stunned.

It was also a music score, and a bound volume at that.

First, the *Wei Family Music Score*, written entirely in Chinese characters.

During the late Ming Dynasty Chongzhen period, when Nanjing fell, the Ministry of Rites official (in charge of music and rites) Wei Zhiyan fled back to his hometown in Fujian, and later his entire clan fled far away to Japan.

Before leaving, he took all the *Ritual Systems*, *Music Theory*, score collections, and musical instruments he could carry. Among them were 232 pseudo-ancient songs including the *Book of Songs*, Han Dynasty *Yuefu*, and Tang and Song poetry, containing three categories: court banquet music, sacrificial Yue, and ancient transmitted poetry music.

Since then, Ming Dynasty court music was introduced to Japan, and based on this, the Japanese imperial palace rebuilt its court music and dance, historically known as "Edo Gagaku." Therefore, Wei Zhiyan is called the "Ancestor of Ming Music" by the Japanese.

Because of the wars, Chinese court music was actually lost. It wasn't until the Kangxi period that a portion was restored from religious music.

Later, toward the late Republic of China, the *Wei Family Music Score* was introduced back into the country from Japan. After the founding of the nation, relevant departments began to conduct Artifact Research.

But limited by conditions, they did not invest much manpower or material resources at the time, and it wasn't until after the year 2000 that it was gradually taken seriously.

Precisely because of this, many people in the country feel that Japanese Gagaku is better to listen to than Chinese court music, and even worship some interludes and soundtracks as divine music. For example, *The Dawn of the Hero*, *Silk Road*, *Castle in the Sky*, *Love Across Time*, and so on and so forth.

Never feel inferior; the root cause is right here. In fact, many of the songs worshipped as divine were directly adapted from tracks in the *Wei Family Music Score*.

Therefore, this book is not considered rare. The reason Lin Sicheng was surprised was because it was stamped with a seal: Fushimi-no-miya.

This is a hereditary Prince family formed by a branch of the royal family in Japanese history, originating in the early 14th century during the Muromachi period, founded by Prince Yoshihito, son of Emperor Suko, with the aim of providing an heir when the Emperor had no offspring.

Family members inherited the title of Prince, and after the unification of the Northern Dynasty, it became an important guarantee for the continuation of the Northern Dynasty imperial line. Emperor Go-Hanazono (1419—1470) of the late Muromachi period came from this branch.

Looking at the paper, it is Chiyogami from the late Edo Period (around 1800); looking at the ink, it is also imperial ink from the Edo Period, indicating that this music score is a collection of the Fushimi-no-miya family from the Edo Period.

It doesn't count as a unique copy, but it is a rare edition nonetheless; if taken to Japan, it should be worth two or three hundred thousand.

After pondering for a while, Lin Sicheng continued flipping through, and when he reached the last volume of the bound collection, he was stunned again.

"Yuedian Music"?

Also known as Yuetian Music, this one is even more famous; it is the oldest existing court music in Japan, originating from Tang Dynasty court music and dance introduced from China during the reign of Emperor Monmu (701 AD), which formed after being integrated with local Japanese elements.

It declined for a time, but was later revived during the reign of Emperor Go-Yōzei through the three musical centers of Tennō-ji, Kōfuku-ji, and Kyoto. The version used for the revival was still the musical score that the Japanese Emperor had envoys request from China during the reign of the Tang Dynasty Empress Wu.

Japan has preserved it to this day, while it was lost in China after the Northern Song Dynasty. It wasn't until the 1990s that partial remnants of the scores were found in the Dunhuang Library Cave, among which was the famous "Qin King Breaking the Formation Music".

Likewise, this volume also bears the seal of Fushimi-no-miya, which means another two hundred thousand.

Seeing Lin Sicheng reading with such intensity, Lv Chenglong looked curious: "Have you studied Japanese?"

"I've studied a little!" Lin Sicheng nodded: "It's not hard to learn!"

Lv Chenglong was taken aback, not knowing what to say.

No matter how easy it is to learn, it is still a foreign language.

But he didn't make a sound, just curiously took a few looks.

Confirming there was no mistake, Lin Sicheng picked up the third book, but the moment he held it in his hands, his pupils shrank slightly.

This volume was even older; the paper was brittle, and its color was no longer yellowed, but gray.

The handwriting was severely blurred, and the ink showed signs of fading.

The key was that every page was stamped with a seal, similar to an embossed seal: Imperial Cloud Heaven!

This is Imperial Guard Record, exclusively used by the imperial family during the mid-Heian period of Japan (920 AD)!